Camden New Jersey U S America1
Aug: 26 '90 P M
Thanks for y'r consideration & kindness send'g the cable message ab't Dr J[ohnston]2—I was getting to be a
little uneasy—Nothing very new or different with me—am pretty well & writing—get out doors & down to river
side almost daily—make my meals of fruit, bread, honey, coffee &c—
Did J. give the portrait (of self) to you in good order? (I dont like that Illustrated News3 one—it
looks a little foxy)4—I send my love, remembrance &c to Dr J—in
fact affectionate respects to you all—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
James William Wallace
(1853–1926), of Bolton, England, was an architect and great admirer of
Whitman. Wallace, along with Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927), a physician in
Bolton, founded the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston
and Wallace corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members
of the Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet
and published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace,
Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two
Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more
information on Wallace, see Larry D. Griffin, "Wallace, James William (1853–1926)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed: J W Wallace |
Anderton near Chorley | Lancashire England. It is postmarked: Camden, N.J. |
Aug 26 | 6 PM | 90; Philadelphia, Pa. | Aug 26 | 8 AM | Paid. [back]
- 2. Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927)
of Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, was a physician, photographer, and avid
cyclist. Johnston was trained in Edinburgh and served as a hospital surgeon in
West Bromwich for two years before moving to Bolton, England, in 1876. Johnston
worked as a general practitioner in Bolton and as an instructor of ambulance
classes for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He served at Whalley Military
Hospital during World War I and became Medical Superintendent of Townley's
Hospital in 1917 (John Anson, "Bolton's Illustrious Doctor Johnston—a man
of many talents," Bolton News [March 28, 2021]; Paul
Salveson, Moorlands, Memories, and Reflections: A Centenary
Celebration of Allen Clarke's Moorlands and Memories [Lancashire
Loominary, 2020]). Johnston, along with the architect James W. Wallace, founded
the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston and Wallace
corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members of the
Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet and
published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two Lancashire
Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more information on
Johnston, see Larry D. Griffin, "Johnston, Dr. John (1852–1927)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. The
Illustrated London News, founded by the British journalist and
politician Herbert Ingram (1811–1860) was the first illustrated weekly
news magazine. Ingram's sons William and Charles later served as the managing
directors of the paper. The paper was published weekly until 1971 and continued
publication, with less frequency, until 2003. A full-page engraved portrait of
Whitman (based on a photograph by Napoleon Sarony) appeared in the Supplement to
the Illustrated London News on November 30,
1889. [back]
- 4. See Whitman's December 3, 1889, letter to Bucke. [back]